


(without) the glimmer of stars

by necroesthe



Series: antichrist hide [1]
Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Crack Taken Seriously, Hide is the antichrist, Kaneki's Mom's A+ Parenting, Maggots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-07 06:56:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4253715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/necroesthe/pseuds/necroesthe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hide is the antichrist. Or rather, an antichrist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. actual cannibal Hideyoshi (sorta)

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be in my other thing, "this is why we cant have nice things", but it ended up being something what would be multichapter

**1.**

When Hide was born, Satan was distraught.

“Why does he have blonde hair?” He complained to the baby’s mother as he held his newborn son. “What sort of antichrist has blonde hair?”

“This one apparently.” Hide’s mother said.

Satan pulled Hide up close to him and looked carefully at his face, turning the bloody head back and forth. “Do you think he’ll be the one to ascend the throne?”

“Who knows. He’s going to be up against two other people.” She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. “The third child hasn’t been born yet, right?”

“Yes.” Satan, satisfied with his inspection of Hide, handed him back to his mother. “I trust you’ll take good care of him?”

“Of course.”

“Off to work then.” Satan pecked her cheek, then poofed away, leaving smoldering ashes in place of where he was previously.

The nurse, who had witnessed everything, simply turned a blind eye.

There were some things you didn’t want to be involved with.

  


**2.**

The third and final child’s birth, like Hide’s, was not something that was particularly interesting unless you enjoyed seeing someone go through some intense suffering and push out a tiny human being from their vagina.

Hide, at that time, was two and gnawing on a raw carrot. Saliva dribbled down his chin and his fingers were sticky. But he was content to sit on the floor and try to alleviate his pain from teething.

His mother was sitting at her desk and comparing all the notes she had about her neighbor. It wasn’t that they were suspicious, but there were things, small things, that bugged her. Like how they left and returned home at odd hours, thrown away the udon she gave them as a welcome to the neighborhood (she had seen while throwing away the trash), and that they only drank coffee.

She contemplated calling the CCG.

Then Satan poofed in the room, the faint scent of something burning accompanying him. Hide stood up and walked over to him. He latched onto his father’s leg, the carrot forgotten in the floor.

“What are you doing here?” Hide’s mother put down her notes and spun around on her chair so that she faced Satan. “Its not a Wednesday.”

Satan only visited on one of the days of his 3 day offs. One day off for Hide, the other day for his other kid, and the third day for god knows what.

“The third child is born.” He said, slightly breathless. “And she is perfect in every way.God, I have never loved anyone as much as I do now.”

Hide scowled and punched his shin.

“Whoops. Sorry.” He crouched down so he was eye level with Hide. He patted the blonde’s cheeks. “I forgot to include you and your other sister.”

The toddler stuck his tongue out, but patted Satan’s cheeks in return.

Satan, realizing that he was now forgiven, stood up and pulled the blond away from him. He kissed Hide’s mother’s cheeks, then poofed away and left smoldering ashes in his place.

Hide’s mother shook her head and went to get the dustpan.

  


**3.**

When Hide was 4, they gave him a chalice, filled to the brim with a red liquid that smelled faintly over copper.

Hide knew it was blood. He had scraped his hands and knees and elbows enough times to have the smell ingrained in his mind.

He looked up at his mother for answers. When she did nothing but nod and and give him a small smile, he turned to his dad.

His father smiled at him as well, unintentionally baring his fangs. He pushed the chalice towards Hide, his wrist coming out of his shirt.

Hide sees a cut, which has began to scan over. He looked at the chalice full of blood, then at his dad's teeth.

It all makes sense. His dad is a vampire, but he's only part vampire. So in order to become a full vampire, he must drink his dad's blood.

Carefully, he grabs the chalice and lifts to up to his mouth. He takes a sip. And then a gulp. The the next thing he knows the cup is empty and-

  _(everything is coming at him, grabbing and forcing itself inside him, twisting his gut around and then traveling up his throat. he can feel it behind his eyes and it burns it burns it burns- then it goes back to his gut and its fluttering around and he just wants the butterflies out out out and he feels a grin stretching upon his face._

_these feelings aren't his. they don't belong to him and he just wants them out but he cant. they explore every part of him and it doesn't fail to leave a sick sick feeling in place of where they were previously.)_

__-and he drops out of his chair.

 

**4.**

****Hide is clawing at his throat and silently screaming. Saliva dribbles down his chin and into the floor. Tears well up in his eyes.

His coughs turn to retching that leaves his throat dry and intestines just about to enter his mouth from his throat.

He sticks his small chubby fingers to the back of his throat, jabbing them.

Hide wants the feelings gone, and if he has to lose his organs in the process then so be it.

     

**5.**

Nothing but spit comes out. Hide gives out a couple more wet coughs before falling limp, succumbing to the deceivingly sweet embrace of sleep.

  


**6.**

It’s only then that Satan does something. He lifts up Hide’s prone body and carries him off to bed, wiping off drool from his mouth.

"As a child of mine, there are only two ways your life can go." He pats Hide's head. "Condemned or revered. And only one may be revered."

Satan stands up to leave the room, but not before saying. "This is only a small step in what you must do to be revered."

He door closes with a soft click.

  


**7.**

The feelings inside him abruptly disappear the moment he is alone, leaving no aftertaste and what not.

Hide cannot even enjoy his freedom for a moment before he is plunged into a lake of bones.

They scratch at his skin and leave deep cuts that do not bleed. But he can feel it tearing open his skin and tears come to his eyes.

His attention is quickly transferred to the ripple of bones that is circling him, getting closer each time.

Something warm and slimy brushes against his leg. It leaves a liquid that gives off the sensation similar to being nibbled on by fish. It eats the flesh on his leg and goes up up up.

Hide doesn't notice until it brushes against his hand. Then he sees the small itty bitty worms eating away at him. They leave his bones and nails untouched.

The thing brushes up against him again and again and again.

Hide's clothes fall off his skeletal frame

       

**8.**

He looks down at himself, to see what the little worms have spared.

His heart is a wondrous red, pumping out blood that only paints the inside of his ribcage. His liver is nice and plump. Hide cannot resist poking it.

Then he sees his intestine, all curled up together. He traces its path, starting from where his stomach ends and stopping where his crotch would be.

Hide is unable to contain his giddiness, and his heart pumps faster and harder. More blood stains his innards.

He is about to grab something that sits just in front of his stomach and is connected to his liver and squeeze it when something bursts out of the lake of bones he's in.

Hide stops what he's doing to look at it.

         

**9.**

It's a worm, a large worm, made up of the itty bitty ones that ate Hide.

They are all squirming and twitching. The worms push each other off in their struggle to get to the center, but it doesn’t matter. The fallen worms just climb up to a different spot and resume what they’re doing.

It is covered in a  translucent yellowish slime that drips down slowly onto the lake and slides down until there isn’t enough of it to continue.

Hide realizes that is it a maggot. A maggot made up of much smaller maggots.

He scratches the back of his skull and notices that his hair it still here. Weird.

“You are weak.” The maggot flops down on it side and lays flat. “So terribly weak.”

The smaller maggots begin to disperse and swim down to the bottom of the bone lake. They leave behind a small and bloody human fetus that is the size of both his fists.

The fetus is whispering something. Hide swims towards it and has to lean down until the hole where his ear would be is against its lips in order to hear it.

“You will never be able to do anything on your own. Never.” It weakly moves its hand up to pat Hide’s chin, leaving small bloody hand prints. “Though I suppose that’s why you are like me. Why you are here with me.”

It coughs out a maggot that climbs into Hide’s skull and somehow worms its way into his esophagus and down to his stomach.

“Do not remove it.” The fetus says as the four year old began to cough. “It is there to teach you, antichrist. To do what our king is unable to do.”

“Why can’t dad teach me instead?” Hide blinks and realizes his eyes are still there. He looks down at his skeleton body that still has most of its organs and thinks wow- he must look super weird.

“It would show favoritism.”

Then Hide wakes up.

  


**10.**

He’s laying in his bed and the the scent of miso soup wafts throughout the house.

Hide gets up and walks over to the kitchen, rubbing his eyes.

Hide mother greets him as she normally would and acts as if nothing had happened. The 4 year old supposes he should play along.

But he can feel her worry, coming into his mouth and twisting his stomach, and that there is something in his throat. Something no bigger than his thumb and is wiggling around.

Hide represses the urge to scream and swallows the maggot, forcing his sphincter to send it down to shit stomach. He coughs afterwards.

His mother gives him a worried look.

Hide scratches the back of his neck and is glad to feel his skin rather than bones. “Just choked on my spit.”

Something changed, but Hide isn’t sure exactly that means.

So until he finds out, he’d do as his mother did. Act as if nothing happened

 

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this fic, please leave a comment telling what you liked.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	2. hello naughty fetus its murder time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its murder time (ish)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have given up on NaNoWriMo  
> also, I caught up to HQ and ship tsukihina  
> OTL

**11.**

Playing along has never been easier. Because for the most part, nothing has changed. His dad still comes on Wednesdays, he’s 4 years old, and his mother continues to anonymously tip to the CCG.

But the maggot sits in his stomach and esophagus, and Hide can feel it moving around. Feel it sitting and its general existence.

Occasionally, it tries to come out, shooting up his throat like a bullet and into his mouth, twisting around and stretching the canal and leaving it sore for days.

Hide doesn’t allow it to go any further and clenches his teeth, leaving no holes for it to go through. The maggot slides around in his mouth, slick with saliva and the translucent yellowish liquid it secretes, and makes acquaintances with his tongue and molars. It rubs itself along the inside of Hide’s cheek, like a cat would to a person’s legs.

Its a weird feeling, but familiar. Hide thinks back to the time his mother bought popping boba. He had crammed a handful into his mouth and swished it around, crushing them against the top of his mouth with his tongue to get the burst of flavor.

But this is a maggot, not popping boba, and therefore it is weird. And crushing it will just get maggots guts all over his mouth. Hide is pretty sure it wouldn’t taste good.

The maggot, realizing that it’s not going anywhere, curls up under the 4 year old’s tongue and lies still.  

Hide takes that moment to swallow it back down. He takes a swing of his apple juice and gulps, just to make sure.

The familiar weight is back in his stomach and Hide pokes at his stomach. No reaction.

Sighing in relief, the four year old decides to do something more productive. Like take a nap or playing with some toys.

 

**12.**

Hide learns from experience that playing with toys is generally the lesser of two evils. Because even though he has to play by himself, at least he’s not transported to the lake of bones and the fetus.

He prefers to deal with them at bedtime.

 

**13.**

But naptime is like apple juice. Something he can’t live without.

 

**14.**

He is instantly charged at by the large maggot, which has the littler ones break off and go into his mouth.

They don’t go in one at a time in a line. The maggots go in groups. Hide’s mouth is stretched wide open as they go pouring in, their slimy bodies going down smoothly and much too fast.

The four year old gags and then retches. He manages to upchuck a couple, which are covered in a mixture of bile, spit, and whatever the yellowish thing they secrete.

But that isn’t enough and there are still more inside of him, filling him up and going down his throat.

Hide doesn’t notice that he’s back to being a skeleton until he looks down at his body. He can see all his organs, and his stomach looks ready to burst. It is covered in bumps that are undoubtedly the worms’ form. They wiggle, and the bumps move as well.

All in all, it looks like a deformed water balloon. An extremely deformed water balloon.

There aren’t anymore maggots trying to get into his mouth. The large one, the one with the fetus inside, slides back and looks at him. Still as a statue.

It judges him. Hide doesn’t see its eyes or even know if it has eyes, but he can feel its gaze on him. Hide is tempted to give it a rude hand gesture that he’s seen his dad use before his mom smacks him with a rolled up newspaper.

He resists the temptation and looks down at his bulging stomach. God- its so disgusting. So gross. So repugnant.

Hide wants more than anything to just grab is and squeeze it. To crush the maggots and feel their guts slide effortlessly through his fingers. For his stomach to be compressed and punctured by his nails.

His heart beats faster and more blood stains his rib cage. His breathing becomes more shallow.

A small smile graces his lips as he makes his decision.

 

**15.**

One of the maggots shoot up his throat just as he grasps his stomach, and fetus just starts screaming.

“What are you doing!” It’s voice reaches decibels that would deafen him if they in real life. “Have you learned nothing? Have you been taught nothing?”

Hide blinks, but doesn’t relinquish his hold on the organ. “What.”

“Don’t play stupid, boy! You know what I’m talking about!” The maggots part and the fetus comes into view. “Mag-” The fetus devolves into a series of coughs and sneezes before continuing. “Is to teach you?”

“Whose Mag?”

The fetus looks at him for a moment, and then goes back to screaming. “You don’t even know!”

This reminds Hide of the time he and his mother went to the store and saw a 2 year old kicking and screaming. His mother had told him to ignore it and don’t look.

Hide decides to follow that advice and turns away.

 

**16.**

The maggot is on top of his head, somewhere in the blonde mess Hide calls hair. It wiggles and rolls around. Somehow, it doesn’t fall off.

The maggot also appears not to give a shit when Hide crushes his stomach and kills all the worms in there.

The fetus also sees that the maggot simply doesn’t care and proceed to scream even louder, which makes the maggot wiggle and roll more enthusiastically.

Hide, standing there,with maggot guts dripping from his hand, another maggot partying on his head, and a screaming bloody fetus a few feet away from him, comes to the realization he has no clue whats going on. He also realizes that the fetus is not the annoying terrifying monster he had thought it was.

He scowls at all the dreams that were ruined and goes over to the fetus. He kicks it.

 

**17.**

The four year old does not expect to hear a sickening crack or for the fetus to fly a short distance before skidding off the bones in the lake. He does not expect its body to be bent at an unnatural angle or for there to be a trail of blood that marks where he skidded.

The fetus doesn’t make a peep. Maggots swarm it and begin to devour it, ripping into its tender flesh.

Hide thinks he just committed murder. And the maggot wriggling on his head seems not to have any qualms on it.

He wakes up.

 

**18.**

When he wakes up, only 30 minutes have passed. His pillow is on the floor and his blankets are twisted around his short legs.

There is a foul taste in his mouth and his eyelids are heavy. Hide wants nothing more than to go back to sleep. He rolls to his stomach.

Unfortunately, his efforts to sleep are thwarted. The maggot in his stomach shoot up his throat like a bullet. Hide doesn’t have to willpower to stop it.

He end up coughing it out, and it lands on his pillow, mixed with a translucent yellow and his spit.

The maggot, free of its imprisonment in the stomach, wiggles around and dampens Hide’s pillow, leaving a small wet spot.

The four year old stares it for a while. “You’re supposed to teach me, right? Thats what the baby thing said.”

The maggot wiggles even more. Hide takes that as a yes.

“And you’re not going to teach me anything, are you.”

There is no change in the maggot’s wiggling. The four year old decides that must also be a yes.

Hide looks at his damp pillow and huffs, the urge to sleep overridden by his disgust in wet pillows.”I’m going to get a snack.”

The maggot stops wiggling to leap onto Hide’s hand, then climbs up to his shoulder and finally settles on the 4 year old’s hair.

It nestles himself and curls up.

Hide frowns and goes off to the kitchen,

 

**19.**

The maggot is not much of a conversationalist, its responses being a big wiggle, a small wiggle, or rolling around.

Hide is satisfied by its responses anyway, so he knows that his chattering isn’t to himself. He nicknames the maggot, ‘Maggy’, as he has no clue how to pronounce whatever the fetus had said.

Maggy is also a great playmate. Hide likes to make structures and Maggy likes to knock them down. A perfect combination.

Hide’s mother looks at her son, who is talking to himself, in concern. She decides to take it up with Satan.

But Satan has his own concerns.

 

**20.**

The four year old’s mother says, “Hide is talking to himself.” At the same time Satan announces. “Someone murdered Bob.”

They both look at each other in surprise.

Satan, who was concerned about the death of an employee, immediately switches his priority to his son. “What.”

And Hide’s mother, who loves a good mystery, decides that Hide’s situation can be put aside for a while longer. “Do tell.”

There’s a look in her eyes and Satan knows that until he explains what happened with Bob, nothing will be told about Hide. He gives in. “Bob was murdered and his maggots ate him.”

“How was he murdered?”

“We don’t know. His maggots ate him.” Satan holds up his hand. “And before you ask if someone was with him, we don’t know. Hide is only there when he goes to sleep and even then I’m not sure what goes on there.”

The four year old, who heard his name, came into the kitchen. “Hi.”

His mother waves at him and Satan gestures him to come forward for a hug. “Hello.”

Hide talks over to his dad and gives him the wanted hug. “Whats going on?”

“Bob’s been murdered.”

“Who’s Bob?”

Satan doesn’t know how to describe Bob using simple words, so he doesn’t. “Bob is a demon fetus that controls the maggots that ate him when he was alive.”

Hide pauses. “What’s a fetus?”

His mother jumps in to explain. “It’s an unborn baby.”

The four year old thinks back to what his dad said about Bob, then to what happened during that one nap. He nods. “Then I murdered Bob.”

Hide goes over to the fridge to get a juice box and returns to the living room to watch some TV, ignoring his parent’s faces.

Satan realizes that it is likely that Hide killed Bob and feels a burst of pride in his chest. His son’s first murder, at the tender age of 4.

His first kid had already killed her her teacher and his second killed a, albeit weak, demon. He wonders when his third kid will kill someone.

Hide’s mother, while happy for Hide’s achievement in his life as the antichrist, is still concerned about why Hide is talking to himself.

Satan waves it off. “All antichrists do that. He probably got a friend companion thing.”

She frowned. “Is it human?”

“Nope.”

Her concern increases. “Hide needs human friends. Having nonhuman friends outweigh human friends isn’t good.”

“Hide doesn’t have any human friends.” Satan looks at his nails. “And where would he even get friends in the first place?”

Hide’s mother doesn’t hesitate to answer. “School.”

Satan looks at her. “You’ve been planning this, haven’t you?”

“Yes.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed reading this, please leave a comment saying what you enjoyed.
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> o/


	3. why you gotta be so cruel maggy (not really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> maggy is mean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think i cursed myself writing this because my aunt found maggots in our home on tuesday

**21.**

The problem that came with Hide going to school was that he was only allowed to attend to voluntary KG-1 Kindergarten rather than go to an actual elementary school since he was only four.

And the problem with that was choosing what kind of kindergarten Hide would attend, a “ _yochien_ ” or “ _hoikuen”_. A “y _ochien_ ” would only be a half day and would require Hide’s mother to make lunch and participate, but it was more academic than _“hoikuen_ ”, where it was each day was the length of an average school day, the lunches were provided, and Hide’s mother was not required to be as heavily involved.

Hide’s mother wanted her son to have more time to make friends and for her to be able to go around investigating without having to worry about Hide. So she picked “ _hoikuen_ ”.

 

**22.**

“Remember Hide,” His mother said on the first day as they walked to the school. “Don’t talk to yourself.”

Hide scoffed. “I don’t talk to myself. I talk to Maggy.”

“Who’s Maggy?”

The four year old reached into his hair and pulled out a maggot. Now, Hide’s mother wasn’t particularly squeamish about them due to continued exposure when she looked at a crime scene, but her son pulled one out from his hair.

Clearly she’d need to have a talk about basic hygiene with him. “Hide, you shouldn’t show it to anyone else. In fact, just put it back where you found it.”

Hide made a face, then popped Maggy into his mouth and swallowed it. “Done.”

His mother retracted her earlier thought. Clearly she’d need to talk with Satan about the norms of an Antichrist. “Just try to make friends Hide.”

“I will!”

 

**23.**

Making friends, as it turned out, was as easy as killing Bob. And like killing Bob, Hide wondered why he didn’t do it sooner.

His classmates swarmed over to him, reeking of curiosity and wonder at what the new kid would bring in store. And Hide didn’t disappoint, shooting them a friendly smile and initiating conversation as soon as possible.

But the problem that came with that was Maggy. Dear Maggy was not content to be back in the stomach and therefore did everything it could to be released. And that included trying to come out at the worst possible times.

 

**24.**

Maggy had learned that going into the mouth only made it easier for Hide to swallow it. So it adjusted its technique.

Instead of going up the the throat and into the mouth, it would just shoot up to hit the back of the throat. Sometimes it would target the uvula and the base of his tongue, striking much harder than something of its size should.

It just happened to be Hide's luck that Maggy decided to test it out in the middle of class.

       

**25.**

The day has started it normal enough. Hide was seated at his desk, working on basic hiragana packet and occasionally whispering with his friends. Maggy was squirming and wriggling in his stomach, kicking up a storm as it had been doing for the past couple weeks.

Hide didn’t know why it got so fussy. Maggy had been perfectly chill at home, sitting his hair and knocking down the structures Hide made. But at kindergarten…

He shook his head. Now wasn’t the time to worry about Maggy. He had to focus on copying the characters. He held the pencil tighter and narrowed his eyes in concentration, determined to replicate it perfectly.

Maggy decided to start phase one of its plan to attack Hide while he’s distracted. It stilled and looked up into the four year old’s esophagus, adjusting its position to be directly beneath the tunnel. Once Maggy was positive that that it was exactly where it was supposed to be, it leapt.

Maggots do not jump, but Maggy wasn't just any maggot. It had served under a bloody fetus that dwelled in hell and participated in tournaments that went to the death, somehow  coming out victor each time with its comrades. So of course Maggy had learned  to jump somewhere along the way.

The maggot leaned back just in time to make contact with Hide's throat, hitting it. Then gravity sent it back down the esophagus and into the stomach.

It was about to ready itself again when all Hide's stomach contents suddenly surged up, dragging Maggy along.

The half digested rice and miso soup burned more than is usually did, touching Maggy's entire body. A grain of rice brushed against it.

Maggy wasn't used to its entire body touching the acidic food, usually just floating upon it. It was a new feeling that was completely unwelcomed.

Maggy thrashed around, trying to resist the flow.

The tip of its tail snagged on one of Hide's teeth, one of the flat ones in the back that would soon develop into a cavity unless Hide brushed better.

The rest of the food gushed through, only pulling slightly at the maggot. It stretched its tail to a somewhat painful degree, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal.

Once the surge stopped, Maggy freed its tail and waited. It was silent.

Then there was a shriek of disgust and Hide began to cry.

Mission accomplished.       

Maggy slunk back down to the stomach, careful not to hit the back of Hide's throat again.

 

**26.**

Hide was immediately sent to the nurse, who immediately called him mother to pick him up and bring a spare change of clothes. If the four year old had a stomach bug, it was better to be sent home rather than risk spreading it to his classmates.

The nurse had checked his temperature and asked Hide some questions that the four year old couldn’t answer because no one was to know about Maggy and because he was crying. The nurse clicked their tongue and then left the room, returning with a stool.

They told Hide to go and try to clean himself using the sink before going back to the office to help the secretaries.

Hide scrambled up on the stool and turned on the sink, stretching the front of his shirt so that it was under the faucet. There was no point in rinsing his shirt really. His mom was bringing in a spare change of clothes after all.

But it smelled and Hide had nothing better to do. He didn’t want to think about Maggy.

 

**27.**

Hide’s mother arrived with a spare change of clothes and he was free to go home.

 

**28.**

Later, once he had taken a shower and eaten lunch, Hide and his mother decided to do some bonding and watch the most cringe worthy soap opera they could find.

It was in English with Japanese subtitles, but Hide couldn’t read yet. It didn’t change much, as the actor’s tone and actions basically explained enough.

His mother wasn’t looking at the screen, preferring to look over her notes about her newest suspect, who was the new cashier at the nearby convenience store.

On the screen, the male lead was chatting up a bunch of women at the bar. The female lead was sitting over the side, looking ready to pop.

Then the male lead made a V with his index and middle finger. He put it to his mouth and stuck his tongue in and out between the two fingers, making slurping noises while trying to accomplish to look known as 'bedroom eyes'.

The female lead stood up from her seat and then walked over to the guy. After establishing eye contact that appeared to be either sexual tension or deep loathing, she punched him in the throat.

There was a bunch of shouting after that and Hide got bored. He flopped over on the couch.

For some reason, Maggy had been lying still in his stomach. Hide would have forgotten about it if not for for the weight he felt inside him.

He didn’t understand why Maggy made him throw up or why it threw a kicked up a storm at school. He just didn’t get it.

Hide’s eyes glazed over as he continued to watch the soap opera.

It wasn’t until the male lead accused the female lead of being jealous (which the female lead denied vehemently) that Hide realized.

Of course Maggy was fussy. It was jealous. And that meant Hide had to find it some friends.

 

**29.**

“Hey Mom?” Hide and his mother were still watching the soap opera. “Where do you find maggots?”

She looked up from her notes. “At dead bodies.” There was no way she was going to tell Hide that they were also found in old fruit and meat. She didn’t want to end up with a maggot infestation in her house. “Why?”

“Because Maggy is lonely.”

Ah. Maggy. The maggot that was either in her son’s stomach or somewhere in his hair. She really needed to ask Satan how Hide got the maggot. She nodded.

Hide asked another question. “Where do you find dead bodies?”

His mother smiled. This was a perfect opportunity to do some proper bonding with him. “Why don’t you help me look for them?” She handed him her notes. “When you’re done, discuss.”

Hide looked at the mix of kanji, katakana, and hiragana for a moment. He looked up at his mom. “I can’t read yet.”

“Then I’ll read it to you.” She pulled him up onto her lap and placed a finger under under the very first character. “ Yamauchi Mitsuki- Convenience Store Cashier….”

 

**30.**

“What do you do when you can’t find the dead body?” Hide twisted around to look at his mother’s face. “What then?”

“Well, that just means you aren’t looking hard enough.” A small smiled formed on her lips. Hide shivered. “And that you need to go a little deeper."

His mother hugged him and rested her chin on his forehead. "Hide, how do you feel about going on a mini field trip with me to the sewers?"

 

 

 

     

         

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed reading this, please leave a comment telling what you liked.
> 
> Thank you!


	4. dont skip leg day! ft. kaneki ken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> legs and cannabalism ft. kaneki

**31.**

The first corpse they encountered was in the 10th ward. And like the sewers that Hide seemed to love, it was absolutely disgusting.

Hide’s mother wrinkled her nose and grabbed the back of her son’s raincoat, stopping him from running forward and reaching for a handful of maggots to put in his bucket. “At least wear gloves, Hide.”

She tossed him a pair of cheap disposable ones and went over to examine the corpse. Half of its face was either rotted off or eaten. The rest of its body was in similar condition, though its right leg was missing. His mother scowled and stepped back just in time to avoid Hide barrelling into her.

The four year crouched down and grabbed the little worms by the handful, stuffing them into the bucket. Maggy wiggled around in his hair.

He stopped when the cheap plastic bucket was a quarter full, wanting to save some room in case he encountered more corpses. And the one he was in front of had too many stragglers. Picking them up individually was a waste of time. He walked back to his mother.

She kneeled down and a fixed the surgical mask on his face. They both wore one to avoid being recognized if they encountered someone. “Ready to go forward now?”

“Yeah.”

Hide’s mother slipped on a pair of cheap disposable latex gloves herself and held the four year old’s hand. There was no way she was doing it without some protection. That was just plain gross.

 

**32.**

By the time they entered the 17th ward, Hide's bucket was overflowing with maggots. His mother was tempted to dump out the top layer to end the trail, but it wasn’t visible in the first place. The maggots fell into the water that was mixed with filth and other unmentionable things, never to be seen again.

“You shouldn’t add anymore.” His mother said when they encountered the next body. It was much more recent than the other ones, but it wasn’t fresh.

“But the more the merrier, right?”

“Not if they end up falling out.”

Hide frowned,

“You can, however, help me examine this body.” She motioned for him to come closer and then pointed at the corpse, placing her other hand on his shoulder. “Anything you notice?”

“Um. Its dead.”

“Besides  that.”

He tilted his head. “Its missing a leg?”

Good enough. It was Hide’s first time out in the sewers after all, and the boy was too busy collecting maggots to notice anything else. “Its a pattern, Hide. All the other bodies have been missing a leg as well.”

Realization. He looked up at her, a small glimmer of interest in his eyes mixed with curiosity. “Its not the convenience store lady, is it?”

Not at all. Yamauchi Mitsuki only eats once a month. This person," She gestured towards the bucket. "eats frequently and leaves them to rot.”

“So what do we do now?”

His mother shrugged. “Why don’t you decide? Pick where our path goes.”

Hide looked back at the corpse and was about to scratch his cheek when he remembered he had been touching corpses and maggots. He dropped his hand back to his side.

 

**33.**

Now it was about one in the morning, give or take a couple minutes, and they were still in the sewers, steadily approaching the 20th ward.

They had encountered a couple bodies since then, but their time was short with them, only pausing to take a picture and to estimate how long they had been dead.

Hide’s guesses were a hit or miss. If it hit, it was terrifyingly accurate and his mother would wonder if he had been there while it happened.

And if Hide was wrong….His mother cringed.

After the 6th prediction, she was absolutely positive that Hide was messing with her because honestly, a corpse that had been dead for 32 minutes would not be bloating. The look in Hide’s eyes revealed nothing but curiosity and amusement (which didn’t count because Hide was easily entertained) and she was left unsure.

They encountered a hand, just a hand, sitting innocently to the side. It was green and absolutely reeked of decay.

Hide pointed to it and said. “300 seconds.”

Okay, he was definitely fucking around. 300 seconds was about 5 minutes, and 5 minutes did not warrant increased rotting and maggots, dammit.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by Hide oohing and chanting. "You just said a bad word. You just said a bad word."

She huffed and looked away. "Let's just go on."

You just said a bad word. You just said fu-"

"Hide don't cuss! You're only 4!"

“But you said it! How come you get to cuss?”

“Because I’m older."

The four year old puffed his cheeks. “Liar. Dad is old too and he doesn’t cuss.”

Well, Satan had centuries of experience and knew better than to cuss around kids. Just because he condemned people to an eternity of suffering didn’t mean he wanted to taint an innocent child’s vocabulary with vulgar words. “Well, that's because he doesn’t want to cuss.”

“But he’s able to cuss, right?”

She gave him a look.

 

**34.**

“So when will I be able to cuss?”

His mother looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “Why?”

“Because it seems fun.”

“Then never. Cussing is a bad habit.” One that she had never quite managed to stop. She always kept it to when she was investigating, but now that Hide was here….eh. The cat was out of the bag and there was nothing she could do about it.

“How come you cuss then if it's a bad habit?”

“Because it's hard to break out of them.”

“How old were you when you started cussing then?”

9\. She was 9 when she first started. First with a simple ‘dammit’ then later evolving to a  lovely ‘I swear to god if you pick the hardest assignment for this god awful group project I’m going to fuck you up so bad the only way you’d be able shit would be through your mouth motherfucker’ in college. “I don’t remember.”

Hide began to skip, mindful not to spill anymore maggots. “Liar liar pants on fire.”

“Hide-”

 

**35.**

Of course, just as their path divulged into 6 more choices that would either bring them to a dead end or different ward, they encountered a ghoul. And it wasn’t the usual scavenger that passed by and fed on the corpses, regardless if they were a human or ghoul, that Hide’s mother encountered every so often.

On the ghoul’s head was a brown paper bag with two small eye holes, and their kagune, a koukaku, had it's tip on the floor, where all the weight was. Off to the side was a body, clinging on to whatever life was left and bleeding viciously from its stump.

The ghoul, holding a leg with the foot still attached, grabbed the bone. They twisted and tugged  at it, finally pulling it out with a loud pop. They threw the bone without looking. It hit Hide’s head.

“Ow!”

The ghoul snapped their attention to the two, their eyes widening, and Hide’s mother saw her life flash before her eyes.

A beat of silence passed between the two. Hide nursed his most likely bruised head with tears pricking at the corner of his eyes.

One. Two. The body on the floor gurgled. Both parties broke into action.

 

**36.**

She grabbed Hide and held him under her arm, side stepping just in time to avoid being skewered by the ghoul’s koukaku.

It pierced the wall instead, and as the ghoul struggled to pull it out, Hide’ mother ran to the 20th ward, where the nearest ladder was.

Hide clutched onto the bucket’s rim, trying to stop the worms from falling over. “What happened?”

“Ghoul.”

“Oh.”

  


**37.**

The ghoul stopped trying to pull it out by sheer force. Instead, they kicked the wall around it and widened the whole. Their koukaku slipped out with ease. Then they returned to their pursuit.

Hide’s mother swore and forced her legs to go faster. They weren’t burning, at least not yet. But her arm ached from carrying Hide and his bucket of worms.

The footsteps following her went faster and faster. It was only a matter of time before she got caught.

The ladder came into view.

 

**38.**

10 feet. 7 feet. 5 feet. 3 feet. She reached it and began to climb . Her palms were sweaty and her hands shook. Adrenaline pumped through her veins.

6 more rungs until she reached the top, then she’d need to unscrew the top and climb out.

The ghoul’s footsteps eased into a slow walk. They were taking their time, she realized as she reached the top and began to remove the lid. Yet she couldn’t help but be somewhat grateful. It gave her more time after all.

The ghoul broke back into a sprint just as she popped it out. They leapt, their koukaku poised to take something out.

Hide’s mother hissed as it left a long gash in her back that would need stitched. Duly, she noted that Hide has said “Ow.” in a very monotone tone.

Something fell and she scrambled out, breaking into another run. There was no time to put the lid back on.

Hide craned his neck and waved. His headlamp slid off.

 

**39.**

They went to the closest empty alleyway. His mother dropped her son to assess the damage.

Two eyes, two hands, bucket with maggots still intact, ten fingers and one le-

“Oh no.” The stump bled, a puddle quickly forming around the four year old.  “Oh no no no no no no no.”

Hide blinked and tilted his head.

His mother pulled out her phone and called the person who would surely and most definitely be able to do something.

 

**40.**

“Okay.” Satan looked at Hide’s stump leg, which was being covered by his raincoat, then looked at the boy’s mother. “How the fuck did this happen.”

Hide’s mother cringed and scratched her cheek. “Well, you see…”

 

At the end of it, Satan could only cover his face and groan. “Why?”

“Just help Hide for fuck’s sake.”

“Ooooooh! You just said a cuss word!”

Satan groaned louder.

  


 

 

_∞._

Kaneki Ken was an obedient 4 year old. He did what his mother told him to do, what his teacher told him to do, and what his neighbor told hi- okay, that was a lie. Kaneki did not listen to his neighbor, and instead, hid behind his mother’s legs or ran home.

That was because his neighbor, at the very least, was weird. Their smile looked as if it belonged to one of the many horror movies Kaneki had seen-

_(His father had left many books when he died, but Kaneki didn’t know how to read. To make up for it, his mother had rented the movie adaptions and left him alone to watch it on the weekends when she needed to work and deliver packages.)_

-and while other kids cried about the monster under their bed and closet, Kaneki cried over his neighbor.

But above else, Kaneki was worried. His mother had left at 11 to deliver something across the ward and now it was 2 am.

He leaned against the wall of the living room and ignored his neighbor scratching at it. They did that whenever his mother was gone, and Kaneki learned not to think much of it. It was when they started to growl that he had to worry. Weird things happened when they did.

The scratching ceased and what do you know- his neighbor started to growl.

Kaneki leapt away from the wall and ran to the living room. The last time he had stuck around, his neighbor had head butted the wall and made his father’s bookshelf fall on him. The four year old shuddered at the memory.

He peeked through the curtains and looked outside. The only light outside came from streetlamps and the moon, which was full and for some reason, slightly yellow. Kaneki wondered if his neighbor was a werewolf. That would explain why they were so weird.

The sewer lid popped open, and a woman wearing a surgical mask, rain gear, and a headlamp climbed out. In her arms was a boy around his age in matching attire carrying a bucket filled with worms. He was also missing his right leg.

Kaneki watched the blood gush from the stump for a moment before looking up at the boy’s head. He had blonde hair and brown roots, though it was mostly covered by the headlamp that was sliding off his head. His eyes were brown and wide, too wide in fact.

The boy made eye contact with him and Kaneki suppressed a shiver. It was as if he was being torn apart bit by bit, each piece being examined under a microscope before being stitched back together.

The boy then shot him a grin and waved just as his mother ran off and his headlamp fell to the floor.

Kaneki looked at the bloody street for a moment, then at the headlamp, and finally at the open sewer. It wasn’t good to leave your stuff laying around. Someone might take it.

He opened the front door and then ran down the stairs as fast as his stubby legs could take him. Kaneki scooped up the headlamp and ran back up, careful to avoid the blood. He was panting by the time he was back in his apartment, and he knew it wasn’t from being tired.

The four year old locked the door and went back up to the window, pressing his face against it to keep him steady.

His neighbor was already outside and was lapping up the blood eagerly, hunched on all fours. Their sclera was black and their pupils were red.

Kaneki quickly looked away and slumped against the wall. He cradled the headlamp to his chest.

His neighbor may not be a werewolf, but they certainly weren’t human.

 

30 minutes later his mother appeared, not a hair out of place and looking exactly the same before she left. Her purse was fuller than usual and she carried a cardboard box.

“Sorry I’m late Ken. My customer was being...difficult.” The smile on her face didn’t flicker as she dumped her purse contents onto the table. There was blood on the corner. Kaneki ignored it. “Don't worry though. I eventually got him to pay."

He pointed to the cardboard box. “What about that though?”

“Those are leftovers.” She said. “I’m going to share some with the neighbor, then with what's left, I’ll make some steak. Is that good?”

“The neighbor isn’t human.” He blurted out, looking down at the floor. “I saw him outside licking blood off the floor.”

She hummed thoughtfully, then turned away, going out the door with the cardboard box. “Go to bed Ken. We might have a guest tomorrow morning.”

“But you’ll be fine, right?”

“Of course. I can take care of myself, you know."

Then she left the apartment, leaving Kaneki to crawl into bed alone, his head swarming with grisly thoughts of his neighbor.

 

Naturally, he was surprised and a little bit terrified when he walked into the kitchen to find his neighbor sitting at the table talking to his mother with hamburger steak in front of them.

His mother smiled and gave him a wink. “Just between the three of us, alright?”

His neighbor smiled that creepy fake smile that deserved to be in a horror movie. A nervous smile wormed itself on Kaneki’s face and he nodded frantically. “Yeah. Just between the 3 of us.”

He dug into his food and made sure not to look up. There was no way he was going to look at his neighbor's funky eyes and funky smile. Nu uh.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha, sorry for the super late update. School started back up and i joined the symphony and im a sack of shit who wrote 2 other oneshots ~~which im salty about because they got more kudos than this piece of shit smh~~


	5. chillax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit does not go down. it settles down to a state of normalcy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh, i was planning on uploading this on Tuesday because it was my b-day, but it needed more editing and i didnt wanna give u guys a crappy chapter
> 
> (also i got my first binder and will be joining HOSA!!!! im going to die ;w;)
> 
> ((also i was dragged into mutsurie hell send help please))

**41.**

Hell, as it turned out, had wonderful hospital food. The hospitality on the other hand needed a bit more work.

“What the fuck happened to your leg?” Asked one of the nurses, who was your average demon with at double the number of facial features than a human.

Hide scowled. “What the fuck happened to your face?”

The nurse paused as they placed a tray food on the four year old’s bedside table. “Touche.”

They left. Hide gulped down the soup and hoped that he’d be able to leave soon.

**42.**

He was discharged next week and had been given a free pair of crutches for just being the antichrist.

The crutches also lost their usefulness the very moment Hide took a seat on the train that went straight from hell to heaven, placed against the wall for the duration of the ride. The song “Highway to Hell” was played on repeat.

His dad sat across from him, papers and magazines taking up most of his seat. A laptop was balanced precariously on one lap, and on the other, was a large thermos filled to the brim with coffee.

Satan’s eyes were bloodshot, and underneath them were dark bags. If they got any bigger, they’d fall and rip off his eyelid.  It's the first time Hide had actually ‘looked’ at his dad, and as he watched Satan’s features shift and merge and blur, he realized that he has not gotten any physical traits from him.

He wondered if Satan is even capable of passing down traits, considering the wasn’t even a person. He was just sin, or at least what people imagined sin to be. And what exactly was sin? What made things so sinful? Was it something humans had constructed in order to differentiate ethical things or something used create a sense of superiority over others due to different moral standards and-

Satan looked up and met Hide’s eyes, his features devolving into static. There was even a fuzzy noise to accompany the change. How nice.

_(hide thinks he’d like to be able to do that someday, but being static seems tiring)_

He picked up a magazine on his side and passed handed it to Hide, stretching over and nearly sending his laptop and coffee to the floor. “Look at this and pick the one best for you.”

“I can’t rea-”

“You don’t need to. It's just pictures.

Satan returned to his laptop and took a large gulp of his coffee. Hide opened the magazine and-

Limbs. Prosthetic limbs of all kind. Limbs from Hell, Earth, the 7th and 4th dimension, and more. They ranged from realistic to simplistic to glowy, to nonhuman to littered with working eyes and mouths and teeth.

 

**43.**

The mecha leg was denied. So was the one with Zebra prints and the pool noodle-like one. Even the most realistic looking one for a human was denied.

Hide flopped to his side and watched Maggy inch towards the magazine.

“You should pick it for me.” He said, his eyes half lidded. “Because I, a boy with a missing leg, cannot get the limb I want.”

“The limb you want are hardly inconspicuous. What kind of four year old has a huge mecha leg and a itty bitty real one?”

“An awesome one, that's what.”

Satan snorted.

“Hey, I did pick a normal leg. And you said no to the that one too!”

“Hide, a  leg with fishnet stockings painted on isn’t normal for a four year old. No four year old would ever have that.”

“I would have if you didn’t say no.”

They continued to bicker, and Maggy had painstakingly managed to turn the page again and again before reaching a conclusion.

Hide titled his head and looked at it with narrowed eyes for a couple minutes before grudgingly nodding. "Not bad.”

Satan took a brief look at it, then returned to his laptop. “Even a maggot has better taste than you.”

The four year old have him a dirty look and prepared for another round of arguing.

**44.**

Returning home was not a particularly big affair. He was given miso soup, the only thing his mother could actually make decently, and then shooed away to his room to rest.

The bucket full of maggots hung outside his window and a bottle of Febreze sat on the window sill. The window remained closed most of the time, as Hide's mother was not going to risk a fly infestation.

Nothing changed in the household, with the exception of his mother not taking him to the sewers for a very long time and him having to use crutches 24/7.

The same could not be said about school, unfortunately.

 

**45.**

Hide was immediately bombarded with questions about his 2 week disappearance and his teacher, who had been informed of the circumstances, shook their head furiously as a warning.

Hide also happened to be a four year old, and naturally, he did not listen. He pulled up his pant leg and showed them the stump and its stitch.

The class exploded with ‘ews’.

There was a mysterious sudden maggot infestation soon after, worms found in various children’s lunches.

 

**46.**

Running was out of the option, and so was catch and the playground. Hide pouted and slid down the wall to a sitting position.

Watching all the other kids play was no fun, no fun at all. He closed his eyes and groaned, wishing for time to fly faster so he'd have a leg again.

A crayon hit his head, a dark gold one, and Hide looked up to meet Kimiko's intense gaze.

He didn’t really know Kimiko that well, their conversation limited to 'Pass me the crayon" and "No the other crayon."

Kimiko was also the lucky shit that had a 64 pack. Hide stuck his tongue out and threw the crayon back.

She took that as an invitation and scooted closer until she in front of him. Kimiko slapped a paper down onto the ground between them and revealed her pack of crayons. Then she drew a circle.

Hide grabbed the hot pink crayon and gave it legs. She gave it a face and he gave it arms; she made stars and he made meteors; a rainbow and a coo-

Recess ended. And they returned to class.

      

**47.**

Healing was a slow and frustrating process. Stitches were itchy, and at times, painful. Hide wanted nothing more than to rip them off.

_(scissors didn’t work. he had tried and all that was left were two broken halves. he quickly hid it under his bed.)_

Hide opened the window and carefully, carefully, climbed onto the window sill. He pulled the bucket of maggots up and rested it on his lap. The wind blew on his face.

They were going to hatch soon. Six days had passed since they pupated, and it was only a matter of hours. Hide leaned his head back on the window and looked ahead.

The view wasn’t breathtaking or beautiful. At the very most, it was okay. But the feeling of just being alone with his thoughts, that no one was there _but_ him gave him a sense of something that was not quite peace but close enough.

Hide swung his leg back and forth. The sky slowly darkened.

**48.**

The flies emerged from their cocoon one by one, quickly squeezing out and walking out the bucket. They either stood somewhere on Hide (not near his stitches, fortunately) or besides him on the window sill.

Once the flies were in position, they stilled. They didn’t even run their hands in that evil fly manner of theirs when they were either going o spit or shit on your food.

When the last one went to their spot, they all snapped to attention, their beady eyes all on Hide.

It was like a bunch of troops standing front to their commander. The thought of him being a leader have Hide both a feeling of unease and excitement. He pushed away the unease and smiled. Troops and commander were too hands on for him; too physical. No, he would be their boss and they would be his workers. His spies.

"Okay. The first thing you guys need to do is spread around the ward. Then you have kids and tell them to go even further. So we have a  whole," Hide spread his arms out. "Network of you guys. Then you guys eavesdrop and tell me any interesting info with ghouls and suspicious people. Okay?"

The flies nodded, and then flew off into the starless night sky. Hide had no clue if he'd be able to understand them if they actually found information or if the flies would actually do as they were told but hey- it was worth a try.

         

**49.**

The flies, as it turned out, were able to relay information they had found via the lake of bones which was now Hide's property _. (he had even constructed a makeshift sign with the bones and scribbled his name using deceased maggots found in Bob's corpse)_

Apparently, there was a cannibal in the 20th ward, an owl, Satsuki's mom was in an affair with her brother's wife, Ryuunosuke had been digging in the trash, and lil' Shouto had been the one to set fire to his neighbor's home.

Needless to say, Hide soon knew everyone's dirty secrets. And it strengthened his friendship with Kimiko because the girl just loved being in the know. His mother was also privy to the information and it made investigating much more easier.

Life was simple.

**50.**

He quickly changed his mind four months later, sometime after he became 5. Because as awesome as a prosthetic limb was, therapy was an  _ass_.

_(he was able to kick all the people who said ew when he showed his stitches. and that made it all worth it)_

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is confused, 40 starts three days after the sewers. Hide goes back to kindergarten about 2 weeks after sewer incident. And pupa hatch about 3 weeks after sewers. 49 is about.....two months after sewer incident. And 50 is 7-8 months after sewer incident! Sorry if its confusing, haha.


	6. fences ft. the boogeyman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> dont fall off fences kiddos. and when in doubt, attack

**51.**

When Hide turned 6, Satan ordered the boogeyman to deliver a present. The boogeyman was not only annoyed, but judgemental.

“First of all, that’s on my day off. Second of all,” Her voice turned disbelieving as she examined the package. “Why would you give a _six_ year old a book the size of their head.”

“I don’t think a six year old’s head would be that big, maybe a little big sma-”

“That's not the point! What six year old would enjoy a book as a birthday present?” The boogeyman flipped through the pages. “This isn’t even in Japanese!”

Miffed, Satan took the book back and re-wrapped it. He smoothed it out so there were no bumps and carefully reapplied the boy. Then he handed it back to the boogeyman. “It’s in code. Hide’s not going to be able to read it for years, but that doesn't mean he won’t have some fun in breaking it apart.”

“Hmph. Then what about the fact you’re making me do this on my day off? I have plans today Boss. Plans.”

Satan snorted. “Stop whining, this is going to take less than five minutes.”

A sniff. "Don't expect me not to scare him."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

 

**52.**

Boogeymen only had 3 laws pertaining to them. One, they could only go after people who believe in monsters. Two, they could only appear in dark places. And three, they were invulnerable as long as they were perceived a threat.

And Hide, who had a ghoul cut off his leg and had killed a fetus from hell decided that the things to be wary of were not monsters, but people.

Hence why when the boogeyman materialized under Hide's bed, a broken pair of scissors was plunged into her eyes.

She screamed and dropped the book, causing Hide to wake up and fall off the bed. There was a moment of eye contact, both parties horrified. The Hide jerked his leg and kicked her in the face. The pair of scissors went in deeper.

The boogeyman, who was not prepared to deal with this kind of stuff, dematerialized back into Hell inside her boss’s office.

( _satan had laughed so hard he nearly threw up. eventually, he removed the scissors, but did not give her a raise_ )

( _what an ass_ )

 

**53.**

“So, did anything odd happen yesterday?” Satan asked as he played Mario Kart with Hide, who was in the lead at the moment, using Yoshi. “Anything weird and unexpected?”

“Uh.” He thought back to that weird thing under this bed and cringed. He didn’t mean to make the scissors go in deeper. “No?”

Satan blue shelled Hide. “Really? Nothing happened?”

Hide watched as he went from first to last place with an empty smile on his face. He dropped his controller, grabbed a pillow, and then screamed into it.

Satan snickered. Hide wasn't the best liar, but with more practice, he’d get better. Hopefully.

 

 

**54.**

Hide wasn’t in the same class as Kimiko, but they shared the same recess. And that was good enough.

“Do you think we can climb over the fence if we tried?” Hide asked, looking at the barrier that separated them from the free world.

Kimiko gave him a surly look. “We’d get caught. And the fence is big. I don’t wanna break my legs.”

“What if we managed to climb it without breaking our legs? A good leg breaking free way?”

Kimiko thought about it for a moment, looking up the fence for a couple moments, before returning to her drawing. She shook her head. “We’d get caught.”

Hide frowned. “But what if we didn’t get caught? What if we made a plan to not get caught.”

That got her to pause. She flipped her paper to the blank side and handed Hide a crayon. “Then let’s make the plan first. Then we can talk about how our legs would break.”

“Our legs wouldn’t break!” Hide looked up at the fence. “Probably.”

**55.**

Its later when he sees his mom go off to spelunking the sewers, decked in her rain gear, mask, and headlamp that he wonders where his things went.

He find his shoes and raincoat in the very back of the closet, collecting dust and spiders. His headlamp, on the other hand, was missing in action.

He knew he dropped it somewhere in 20th ward and that a black haired boy saw him. But what street and apartment number was it? He slapped his cheeks.

This situation called for the Fly Intel Network, shortened to F.I.N. Hide brushed his teeth and made his way to bed. They could only communicate in the lake of bones, and currently, it was only accessible when he slept. Hide was still trying to find out a way to get there while conscious. So far, no luck.

( _but he had managed to master the art of sleeping in class without the teacher noticing and it pissed his classmates off the no end._ )

 

**56.**

He had to crush the bugs to get their memories. Hide isn’t exactly sure how that worked or why the death of the flies is required, but he does it anyway. The flies don’t move to get out of the way for show any form of resistance. Regardless of how slow or quick Hide does it, the flies take it.

It makes him feel a little guilty, how they die for him without complaint, but he doesn’t stop.

“Okay everyone,” They are all lined up and put in sections for each ward. Its cute. “Our next mission is to find out what happened to my headlamp two years ago.” He pointed to the group of flies that were in charged of the 20th ward. “It’ll be up to you guys. All I know is that a black haired boy my age saw me and that I dropped it near some apartments.”

It takes a moment for the flies to process it. Then they go off to their comrades and spread the information. Hide’s voice is only so loud and there are only so many flies.

Satisfied, the six year old wakes up. Then goes back to sleep for some normal dreams that do not involve flies or bones or maggots.

 

**57.**

The person who has his headlamp is called ‘Kaneki Ken’, is 6 years old, quiet, enjoys horror movies and books, and is also a cannibal.

Hide watches in horror as the boy, along with his mother and creepy neighbor, takes a bite out of their steak. Their faces were content. Hide wasn’t sure if Kaneki was aware that he was eating another human being or that his neighbor was a ghoul. He sincerely hoped it was ignorance that kept him happy.

His hopes were dashed when Kaneki took a look at his neighbor’s kakugan eyes and said, while smiling. “I told you that Reiko would be good.”

The neighbor hummed in agreement. “Perhaps you should pick the people, since your mother has boring tastes.”

She pushed her glasses up using the back of her hand. “I’ll have you know the only reason why they’re so mediocre is because I only choose the ones that don’t do what they’re supposed to. Like pay me.”

“How you still haven’t been caught is a mystery.”

“It comes with being a single mother, having a cute son, and wearing glasses.”

The conversation continues, but Hide felt that he knew enough. He pulled himself out of the memory and returned to the Lake of Bones. Now to find a way to become get his headlamp back without getting served on a plate.

The hesitantly crushed a fly and was sucked into another memory-

-And immediately left because who the fuck pours their milk first and then their cereal? Hide shuddered.

 

**58.**

“Hey, mom? Can we go to the 20th ward?” Hide asks the next week. They’re sitting together on the couch, watching yet another soap opera. It’s the season finale, with high tension and inevitable death. He yawns.

“No.” She doesn’t even look at him.

“Please?”

“No.”

Hide slides off the couch and lies on the floor, boneless. He looks up at the ceiling. “But why? Nothing bad happens in the 20th ward.”

This time, she looks at him. Her expression makes him wince. “Nothing bad happens there?  Hide, you lost your leg there.”

“It was in the sewers of the 20th ward.” He corrects. “Not the 20th ward itself.”

“The sewers are part of the ward. It counts.” There’s a small change. Hide’s mother raises her eyebrows and her tone becomes more wondrous. “Why do you want to go there anyway? You haven’t really talked about going off somewhere before.”

“Well, uh. I want my headlamp back.”

“That's all? We can just go and buy a new one this weekend.”

But it's not the same, Hide wants to say. And it's not all about the headlamp.Some kid he doesn’t even know has it and kept it for 2 years. Who does that kinda thing?

Instead, Hide looks back at the TV.

**59.**

“So, what if I needed to climb over the fence soon,” Hide says to Kimiko during recess. “Do you think the plan would work.”

She looked at him. “Why do you need to climb over the fence for?”

“I’m saying what if. Not that I’m going to do it.” Hide pouts and crosses his arm. “What do you take me for, a person who’d break the rules?”

“Yes.” Kimiko shushes him before Hide protest that he would most definitely not break the rules because he was a good and nice person unlike a certain someone. “And the plan needs a little more fixing if you’re really going to escape.”

“I’m not going to escape, I’m just asking what if I wa-”

“Shut up.”

 

**60.**

The plan was set into motion the next week. Kimiko ‘accidentally’ gives Hide a nose bleed. And once the teacher sends him to the office and brings everyone back into class, Hide climbs over the fence.

And bruises his butt because tiny six year olds are not meant to fall from that distance.

Then he makes way to the 20th ward.

 

_∞._

Let's go the the park with your aunt and cousin, Kaneki’s mom had said. It’ll be fun, she said.

Now he was hanging off the very top of the playground, his cousin only inches away from him. Kaneki wonders if he should reach over and grab Yuuichi to drag him down with him, but remembers that his aunt would be pissed and probably try to get more money from his mother.

But then Yuuichi pinches his finger in an attempt to make him fall down and consequences be damned- Kaneki reaches over and grabs the collar of his cousin’s shirt. Then he lets go of the rail.

Kaneki breaks his arm, Yuuichi’s legs, and possibly the blonde boy they landed on as well.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fml i lost my id yesterday and now imma get detention and i lost my spanish book too and gotta repay that shit  
> highschool is, so far, pretty good if i must say so  
> what 'bout you guys?


	7. friendship happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after getting rekt, friendship happens

**61.**

Yuuichi was about to cry. And it was understandable. Anyone would tear up after getting stabbed by Kaneki’s bony elbows. It was only natural, for such things should not exist. They were a threat to humanity, second only to global warming. If Kaneki ever harnessed their power, he would be unstoppa-

Kaneki jabbed his elbow to Yuuichi’s windpipe at the first sniffle. There was no way in hell he’d let him wail and summon his demonic aunt. “Shush.”

Yuuichi gagged, then coughed. A string of spit flew out of his mouth, flying up into the air, and then landing back on his face.

Kaneki wrinkled his nose and wiped it off with his sleeve. “That’s gross. And stop crying.”

“Y-you’re gross. And shut up, you cry way more than me! And more easily too…”

Kaneki pinched his cheeks. “Shuuuut uuuuup.”

The pain in Yuuichi’s legs hadn’t dulled in the slightest, and getting pinched didn’t help at all. But Yuuichi was a man, and men didn’t cry.

( _kaneki would later lecture him on how that was toxic masculinity and that lead to bottling in your feelings and then emotional constipation. but yuuichi was already so constipated there was no hope and-_

_then they’d fight_

_because fuck you kaneki and your subtle assholeness_ )

 

**62.**

A cough interrupted their scuffle. Yuuichi and Kaneki turned their head to look at the blonde boy they had completely forgotten, despite having been on him for maybe five minutes.

“Could you guys, like, get off me?” The boy winced. “I’m not saying you’re heavy but you’re heavy and it hurts.”

“Oh, sorry.” Kaneki quickly stood up and grabbed his cousin’s wrist with his hand, pulling him up to his feet.

Of course, his cousin’s legs were broken. Yuuichi screeched and pushed Kaneki away, both falling back on the ground. “You broke my legs, idiot! Why the heck are you trying to make me stand up!” He punched Kaneki’s arm.

“Well sorr-ee.” Kaneki rubbed his arm and pouted ( _of course, it could have been a glare. but six year olds never managed look menacing in the slightest so who knows_ ). “Maybe if you hadn’t stepped on my hands I wouldn’t have dragged you down with me.”

“Well, maybe if you hadn’t fallen over in the first pla-”

Kaneki suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. He grit his teeth. “You’re the one who pushed me, idiot.”

“Your problem. Not mine”

Kaneki paused and looked up at the sky to admire the fluffy white cloud and the great blue that stretched across. It was peaceful. And one day, he’d like to be a cloud as well. “I’m going to put you in the tube.”

He grabbed Yuuichi’s hand and began to drag him. It took tremendous effort, as Kaneki was just a scrawny six year old who read books and watched movies while Yuuichi actually played outside with the neighborhood kids and ran around during recess.

There was little resistance, and Hide watched in muted horror as Kaneki managed to jam his cousin into the tunnel and then throw sand at him until his body was covered with it. “Now you have a blanket to take a nap with.”

“This is just sand-”

“It’s a blanket of sand.”

Kaneki walked away, and Yuuichi wondered if he should call for help via screaming or just sleep.

He chose sleep.

 

**63.**

“So, uh,” Hide said once Kaneki walks back to him. Kaneki’s face lost its annoyed look, and instead, it is replaced with a more apologetic and shy one. “Uh..”

“I’m so sorry about earlier.” Kaneki grabbed Hide’s hand and pulled him up to his feet, checking to make sure there weren’t any injuries. “I’m Kaneki Ken.”

How does one go about asking for their headlamp back after two years when one is a cannibal who has seen the other missing a leg and said other is and antichrist. Hide wracked his brain. “I think you have my headlamp from two years ago and I’d really like it back.”

Kaneki’s eyes widened as realization passed through him. “You’re the blonde kid that lost his-”

“Yes, yes I lost my leg.” Hide pulled his pant leg up for a brief moment, then let it back down. “You were there behind the window, and I was running away with my mom. That’s old news.” He shook Kaneki’s hand with a newfound vigor. “What’s new is that you’re a cannibal and that I’m an-”

He was dragged to under the slide, where the two were forced to crouch down.

“How do you know that?”

Kaneki’s voice was a low whisper on the verge of becoming a hiss. His breath fanned onto Hide’s face, and the antichrist was relieved to note that it smelled nice. Like mint. “What toothpaste do you use?”

 

**64.**

Kaneki, despite being a cannibal, was not a savage. He had been raised with manners and had been taught the bare minimum of how to socialize with others. Which was probably why he tended to shy away from strangers and was prone to arguing with his cousin. But the point was, Kaneki was a sweet and shy boy. There just happened to be times when he had to shed that demeanor. Like now.

“Please don’t try to change the topic. I really don’t want to have to tell my mom about you. Who knows what she’d do.”

Oooooh telling mom. How terrible.

Except it really was terrible and Hide didn’t fancy being dinner. He didn’t think he’d taste good either. Too scrawny. Too little meat, and it would be all tough and hard to chew. There was also Maggy, who sat inside his stomach. And finding a maggot inside someone you’re about to eat doesn’t seem pleasant.

“You shouldn’t eat me.”

“Why?”

“I have worms.”

Kaneki opened his mouth, then slammed it shut. He looked away from Hide’s face to down at his stomach. “That’s...gross.”

“And that’s why you shouldn’t eat me. You might get my worms.”

“I don’t think worms are passed on that way.”

“And are you going to test it out?” Hide re-evaluated Kaneki. “You’re nasty.”

“Says the one who has worms.”

“But you’re a cannibal and that’s illegal.”

Kaneki snorted. “Cannibalism _is_  legal. We have festival dedicated to weenies. And we _eat_  them.”

 

**65.**

Hide gasped. “We have a festival for dicks?” He looked down at his own, much to Kaneki’s mortification. “That’s weird. And how do you know that? And what goes on there?”

The fact that this weird new kid with some funky eyes ( _which were either a super warm brown or a dull red_ ) and a prosthetic leg ( _that looked cool and seemed to have come out from a cyberpunk universe_ ) knew that he was a cannibal was shoved far back into Kaneki’s mind. The penis festival replaced it entirely.

He looked around the area, checking if anyone was nearby. Then, after gesturing Hide to come closer, he answered. “My mom takes me there whenever it happens. And they have these popsicles that are shaped like weenies and the-”

“Your mom takes you to a _penis_  festival and lets you eat shaped popsicles?” Hide raised his eyebrows while narrowing his eyes. “What kind of mom do you have?”

“A mom.” Kaneki said stiffly. He looked away. “Anyway, how do you know that I’m a cannibal and stuff?”

( _hide desperately wanted to say that it was through his spy fly network but that was too weird because he’d have to explain how f.i.n worked and confess that he was an antichrist but there was no way kaneki would believe him_  )

**66.**

When the boy’s suspicious face didn’t change one bit, Hide realized he didn’t need to be believed. He just needed to say the truth.

So he told Kaneki just that.

 

**67.**

“What the actual fu-”

“Don't say that it's a bad word!”

“You kept on saying penis earlier so shut up! And what do you mean you're the antichrist? You’re too..” Kaneki gave him a look over. “..Too blonde!”

“Shush! Part of my hair is brown so it cancels out.”

“What kind of logic is that? And where’s your proof that you’re an antichrist? And what do you mean ‘an’. There’s more of you?”

“I don’t need proof that I’m an antichrist and yes there’s more of me. Hides are made in factories and are shipped everywhere.”

( _he wondered if he’d be able to make a clone army of himself when he was older and had gained cool antichrist powers. he wasn’t even sure if he’d get cool antichrist powers, but he hoped_ )

Kaneki pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut. “I just- Don’t tell anyone that I’m a cannibal. Please.”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone I’m an antichrist.”

( _it would be completely useless to tell someone those secrets because no one would believe that the sweet and shy mother-son duo killed and ate people and because hide was too bubbly to be an antichrist_  )

 

**68.**

They descended into an awkward silence after that. Hide imagined that if silence had a physical form, it would be a ghastly transparent being whose long and boney hands were constantly wrapped around a person’s throat. Either loosely or tightly, depending on what kind of silence it was.

“Why don’t we go and uh, play on the swings?” Hide tapped his foot, itching to do something besides crouch under the slides. “Or make sand castles and stuff?”

Kaneki nodded. “Uh, yeah. Let’s do that.”

Hide grabbed his hand and pulled him along. “I think we sho-”

“Ow! That hurts!” Kaneki yanked back his hand, inspecting his arm. “I think I broke something after falling on you..”

Hide stayed silent for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Then:

“Can you hold onto a swing with just one hand? And not fly off somewhere?”

Kaneki nodded.

 

**69.**

Around the same time Kaneki’s mom and aunt had realized Yuuichi was missing and had found his body sleeping in a tunnel with legs that did not look okay one bit, Hide’s mom had managed to find her son.

It wasn’t pleasant.

 

**70.**

Kaneki had to get a cast, and also had to wear long sleeves and pants. Hide’s ear ached terribly from where his mom had pinched him and Yuuichi was forced to stay in a wheelchair until his legs healed.

But Hide had gotten Kaneki’s address and that made it all worth it.

He twirled the pencil in his hand and wondered what to write.

 

( _kaneki, being the smug prick that knew more than just the basic hiragana that was taught in school, had responded with kanji_

_hide was forced to find a dictionary. in return, he had his dad help him write his response in english_

                _good luck translating that, kaneki_ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> school was kicking my ass and i got a therapist. also i bought undertale and cried over asgore ;a;
> 
> hit me up on [tumblr](http://necroesthe.tumblr.com/) if ur interested


	8. sunLIT garden arc pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> murder and chocolate let u get what u want

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks crystallightbutterfly for givin me a hand with this piece of sht

**71.**

Mrs. Nagachika considered herself to be a simple person. She tended to go with the flow and, if it went in a direction she didn’t like, made her own flow. She didn’t argue unless it was necessary, but made sure to point out the parts she wasn’t fond of using language that could’ve been softer and less crude. She didn’t drag people into her business, but squeezed herself into theirs and discovered all the juicy information that existed regarding the person or situation. 

Mrs. Nagachika also didn’t do things on impulse.

Unfortunately, that was a trait her son did not inherit.

She looked upon the burning school building, the flames dancing and having the time of its life. Spreading itself across everything and moving moving moving. It was like her, back when she was in school and attended parties. Meanwhile, the smoke performed a waltz to the screaming of children being burned alive. Truly- such a beautiful melody could only be recreated by those gifted with moral depravity. 

“You really take after your father, don’t you?” Mrs. Nagachika said as she sucked in a cigarette, which was lit from the fire before her. It would be a while before firetrucks and police

came. “Straight to murder.”

Hide shook his head as he stared up that the cloud that hovered above the burning school building. It wasn’t a normal cloud. It was a cloud of flies that would lay their eggs on the corpses to expand his army. “I asked nicely if we could move to Kaneki’s district, but you said no. So I had to take drastic measures.”

She snorted. Drastic measures, her cute little son said. “Did you think it through a week before doing it?”

“Nope.” Hide replied, puffing his chest. Planning everything out was boring. Spur of the moment actions with little thought to the consequences were much more fun and exciting. A mix between them was necessary, he thought. Variety was necessary. “I thought of it 3 hours before doing.”

Mrs. Nagachika hummed. “What did you hope to achieve by doing this?”

“That we’d move to the 20th ward and I’d be able to transfer to Kaneki’s school.” Hide replied. “Because Kaneki’s mom won’t let me come over anymore.”

That, she remembered, was Hide’s own fault. Stupid kids did stupid things, and all kids were stupid. Unfortunately, no one grows out of that stupidity, which is why she banged Satan without protection and gave birth to an antichrist.  “Let me finish this and then we-”

Sirens blared. Mrs. Nagachika sighed and crushed the cigarette on the sole of her shoe. She pocketed it. She’d throw it away at home later. “Let’s start packing then. By Thursday we’ll have a place.”

Hide grinned.

“But every student you killed will be a day without junk food. And you decimated just about everyone, didn’t you? Managed to get them all in their classes despite it being 11:30 pm.”

His heart stopped.

 

**72.**

“And uh.” Hide concluded a month after the incident. He was sitting next to Kaneki, thigh to thigh and shoulder to shoulder. Through the power of sheer will, determination, and sucking it up- they had managed to both fit in one swing seat. Being able to actually swing was still an issue though. “That’s the real reason I transferred over.”

They were both 8 now. Proud 3rd graders of an elementary school with no unique features. Proud 3rd graders that were skipping class because Hide felt that a learning environment was not an appropriate place for a massacre confession.

Kaneki was speechless. He knew Hide was a cocktail of bad decisions ready to happen, but this one was the worst. However, if Kaneki was aware of what would occur later on as their friendship progressed, he would have claimed that it was the tip of the iceberg that sunk the Titanic. “Jesus christ. What is wrong with you.”

Hide shrugged.

“I mean, those children could have lasted a couple years with us.” Kaneki continued, absentmindedly rubbing his stomach. His mother hadn’t packed lunch today. “I think each one would have lasted about 3 days, even if they aren’t all the same size.”

“How does that work?”

“Human meat is only good for about 3 days when cooked.” Kaneki said. “Sorta like how chicken tastes weird after you microwave it and stuff.”

“Oh.”

 

**73.**

On the next swing, a mother who would’ve been named Susan if she was born in America, picked her son off the swing and plopped him into a stroller. Then, she speed walked out of the park. 

Kids these days, she thought. Watching too much television and playing much too violent video games. It was getting to their head and twisting their imagination. Not-Susan knew in her heart that the claims of video games not making people violent were false.

She hoped her 2 year old son, who would have been named Billy Bob if he were also born in America, would not turn out like those odd children. “Don’t turn out like that, sweetie.”

Not-Billy-Bob giggled and pulled out a handful of worms from his pocket. He stuffed them in his mouth and chewed and chewed and chewed. His mouth was a pot for worm soup.

Not-Susan recognized those worms from back when she found her rabbit’s missing babies dead in the backyard when she was 7. She nearly screamed.

**74.**

Kaneki was prepared to leap out of the shared swing seat to move to the other one. The longer he sat with Hide the shorter he would live. He could feel his lifespan being squeezed out of him.

And while Kaneki wouldn’t mind dying sooner than he was supposed to, this wasn’t an ideal way. He preferred something that would be awesomer. Cooler.

Something stylish. 

Like jetskiing his friend to safety during a meteor shower that was caused by aliens because the aliens needed to put holes in the earth to use it as a mold for future space crafts. He’d only have time to save Hide.

Then kersplat. A meteor hits him. Jetski explodes and his limbs go flying all over to place to be food for the fishes. Fishes are thankful for his sacrifice and avenge him by destroying the aliens. 

The fishes would even build a monument in his honor.

 

**75.**

While Kaneki was off in dreamland and Hide appreciating the beauty of nature, a lone girl who looked to be about in 6th grade shuffled over to the empty swing and plopped onto the seat. 

Her hair was short and green, reminding Hide of the plants his mother grew in their backyard and sold to other ward members. A cardigan covered her pathetically scrawny frame and  large scarf was wrapped around her neck, slightly hiding her face. She only lowered it to take a bite of her chocolate bar and grind the disgustingly sweet treat with her teeth. Her eyes were narrowed and her eyebrows furrowed. Her shoulders quivered. 

The girl’s head was a whirlpool of thoughts. Thoughts that were better left within her, rather than slipping off her tongue and into the minds of others.

Unfortunately, every fiber of Hide’s being disproved of that notion.

 

**76.**

Hide stopped mindlessly swinging his feet and elbowed Kaneki, drawing his best friend back into harsh cruel reality. He pointed to the girl, and then at the chocolate bar she ate painfully slowly. Had it been in the young antichrist’s hands, it would’ve been gone in half a second.

Hide tapped her shoulder. Quickly and lightly. “Did you know that that chocolate bar has been expired for 3 years?”

She stilled. Tensed. Then carefully peeled the wrapper forward to check. Her chewing devolved to a standstill. Sure enough, it was expired. 3 years, 7 months, and 23 days to be exact. “Oh.” She blinked. “Thanks for telling me, but it doesn’t really matter. I’m still going to eat it.” She took another bite.

 

**77.**

Hide nodded in approval, and stuck his hand out. “I like the way you think.” He said, much to Kaneki’s disgust. “Name’s Hide.”

“I’m Eto.” She grabbed it weakly at first, but as Hide’s handshaking intensified she tightened her grip. Eto contemplated digging her fingernails in, but decided against it last minute. She was 3 years older than them. That would’ve been completely uncalled for. “Nice to meet you.”

Hide winced and let go. With his other hand, he tried to rub the pain away. “So uh, why exactly were you so mopey a couple moments ago? Why are you still mopey actually?”

Eto craned her head back and looked up at the sky. It was clear and bright with not a single cloud in sight. It also burned her eyes the way rubbing alcohol did when it got in. God, Eto realized, she should probably go out more. Being a shut in is unacceptable in society. “It's complicated.”

And complicated being a complete clusterfuck of events that children, much less adults, do not go through. It was as if God had let his stoner cousin Jeffery be in charge of the lives of those who lived in Japan. The ingredients of life mainly consisted of a bit of condensed milk, evaporated milk, egg, vanilla extract, and honey. But Jeffery added mayonnaise, chocolate pudding, gung bot, soy sauce, and a crystallized urine.  No cocaine of course, because that would be simply crossing the line. Then Jeffery set the oven to its highest temperature and promptly knocked out on the couch.

 

**78.**

Hide pointed at the swing seat. “We’ve got time.”

 

**79.**

Oh, and time they did have. In fact, it was too much time. Eto, since she had no friends, took full advantage of it.

Granted, she had a wonderful way with words and not once had Hide or Kaneki’s attention had been somewhere else. But the sun was setting and Eto was still going. The chocolate bar on her lap being the apple Eve had eaten.

Hide’s stomach was on the verge of digesting himself and Hide’s rear was undoubtedly becoming deformed. It was caving in, but that was future Hide’s problem. 

The temptation only grew stronger with each and every passing second. Hide’s eyes watered.

Finally, Eto finished.

**80.**

“So basically.” Kaneki said, eyes trained on Eto’s face. Revulsion leaked into his voice and he shuddered. Why did Hide have to be so gross? Basically drooling on himself at the sight of a chocolate bar more ancient than dinosaurs. “Your friend got arrested.”

Eto’s mouth twisted. “More like sent to a juvenile hall. She’s too young to be arrested.”

Same thing. “And you need to bust her out.”

She noticed Hide’s eyeing the chocolate bar and held it up eye level with him using her index and thumb, carefully swinging it. A smirk threatened to worm its way onto her way onto her face. “Basically, but I can’t.”

There was a moment of silence between all of them. A feeling of dread pooled in Kaneki’s stomach. 

The feeling of dread become founded was Hide snatched the chocolate bar and crammed it into his mouth, wrapper included. “We’ll do it!” He said.

Eto grinned and clapped her hands. “Great! It's this really big building surrounded by this plant that's the same color of my hair and-”

Kaneki wondered, not for the first time, if it was too late to back out on the role of being the antichrist’s best friend. “We get the point.”

 

(  _ hairu was a small twiggy 5 year old with the voice of a 50 year old chain smoker who inhaled three balloons worth of helium every 30 seconds. her hair and eyes were pink due to the odd breeding mix ups in the sunlight garden. but she expected that the other members pink eyes were due to that one green plant (no- it wasnt grass) that grew around there. _

_ “furuta, come down.” hairu raised her arms, holding the result of an hour’s work. Her fingers were green, stained with the plant. “this is going to be the last flower crown I’ll be make here.” _

_ furuta scowled. “hairu those aren’t even flowers.” _

_ oh, furuta. furuta was a scrawny 8 year old that somehow managed to be more scummier than his dad.  _

_ hairu yanked on the hem of his shirt, trying to pull him down. “wear it.” _

_ furuta sighed. it was better to go along with it. resistance was futile when it came to hairu. “this is a cannabis crown.” _

_ “yup.”  _ )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3 finals left to go and a date to get ready for. pardon the extremely long interval between updates  
> hmu at my writing blog [ necroesthe](http://necroesthe.tumblr.com/) if u got any questions n requests (no guarantee ill write it tho, but i wanna get back into the art of fanfics. drew wayy more than i wrote)


	9. sunLIT garden arc pt1 1/2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> protests and yoga is the key to an inner peace of mind , as well as bullets

**81.**

There was a large black cloud about the size of a blue whale flying across Tokyo one lovely Wednesday morning. It emitted an obnoxious low pitched buzz that never wavered in volume. Occasionally, it blocked the sun in a cheap imitation of a solar eclipse.The residents of Tokyo, who were close enough to know that it was not in fact a solar eclipse, grew very paranoid and unhappy.

Because while most places of the world blamed abnormalities on ghosts, witches, and and aliens, Japan blamed just about everything on ghouls. Ghouls ghouls ghouls. The boogeyman was replaced with the ghouleyman, much to her shame and frustration. And after she lost an eye due to Hide, the new name was only upgraded to, ‘The One-Eyed Ghouleyman’.

So, since Japan blamed ghouls on everything, they phoned up the CCG about the case of the mysterious solar eclipse. 

“Oh, Washuu-san!” The helpless citizens cried out. “Please help us! There is a strange solar eclipse and comes and goes like the neighborhood cat! It makes a buzzing sounds too!”

“Go ask the weatherman,” Tsuneyoshi Washuu had replied, not looking up as he combed his magnificent beard. This was the 3rd time this week he had been phoned up about the issues of Tokyo. The last one was about a floating rock that followed an innocent schoolgirl for about 3 months. “He knows more about things like this.”

But the citizens of Tokyo were persistent and had managed to form a protest group in front the CCG’s headquarters in about an hour, equipped with well made signs and their children- to emphasize how desperate they were. In the end, the CCG was left with no choice. 

“Gather all the foot soldiers-”

“Sir,” One foot soldier had weakly said, her voice muffled by stack of paperwork she was to sort out alphabetically. This was not how she expected the life of an investigator to be. She expected fame and glamour- adrenaline rushes and a ton of rendezvous with death, but all she got was paperwork and a gun that jammed every 17 seconds. “We aren’t foot soldiers, we’re bureau investigators-”

“Gather all the foot investigators-” The worker coughed. Tsuneyoshi paid her no mind. “and load the helicopters with them. Fly over to the tallest building that’s closest to the...eclipse and shoot.”

A different foot soldier, male this time, lowered his rather snazzy pair of aviator sunglasses to get a look at the chairman. “Pardon me sir, but are you ordering us to shoot at an eclipse? An eclipse that buzzes?”

“Yes I am. Now go forth and do as I say!” Tsuneyoshi made shooing motions with his old wrinkly hand. The stubborn bureau investigators glued their feet to the ground and wondered, wondered if the chairman was thinking right. They didn’t react to Tsuneyoshi snapping his fingers, or him clearing his throat hard enough for him to hock up a loogie. However- “I’m docking your next pay-”

They scrammed, nearly tripping over their own feet. 

Tsuneyoshi chuckled and gave himself a firm pat on the back, which devolved into a scratch. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. That felt much better.

 

**82.**

Arima Kishou was a lanky 16 year old who often worried that his glasses would fall off his face and that someone would actually request for him to play the guitar. The only song he was capable of playing was Twinkle Twinkle Star. Fortunately, his cool exterior was borderline frigid and no one really asked him to show off his nonexistent guitar skills.

Currently, he was enjoying a lovely Wednesday morning with a horde of children. Yoga mats were beneath their feet, and they grounded themselves, every crevice of their foot pushing into the mat. They stretched up to the sky, bones popping, and filled their lungs and head with fresh air. Then exhaling all the unwanted thoughts that plagued their brain as they reached to the ground. 

Sun Salutation, was what the warm up was called. It hurt like hell in the beginning, especially with the downward facing dog, but it stretched them out and in result- they could reach their toes with relative ease. Children of the sunlit garden were phenomenal fighters, but they all began with the flexibility of a wooden ruler. 

“Now we move on to-” Something blocked the sun, and without its warm rays, Arima was no longer prompted to continue the yoga session. All motivation for the exercise seeped out of him in an instant. He stepped off the mat and put began to put his socks and shoes back one. “You’re all dismissed.”

The children grumbled and reluctantly followed suit. Hairu, who had been watching atop a tree to get a better view of Arima’s flexibility and Furuta’s lack of one, hopped down and trotted over to her idol. She kicked her colleagues shoes along the way, a smirk on her face. Nothing lasted forever, including the time she remained with them, so Hairu may as well get everything she felt about them out of her system. “Your nose is big, you have fish lips, your eyebrows switched places with your mustache, you’re just ugly, and you-” Hairu took a moment to breathe in and out deeply. “You’re just perfect.”

Arima places a hand over his heart and smiled, something the other 4 children were not tempted to do. “Thank you Hairu.”

“Did the hemorrhoid cream I gave you yesterday work?”

He coughed into his hand, cringing into it. “I don’t have hemorrhoids-”

“Yet!” 

“-but thank you for the concern. It was very...” Arima hesitated. “Thoughtful of you.”

Hairu preened under the praise, smoothing her bland white dress and combing through her hair with her fingers.Her smirk transformed into a soft smile. Hairu spread her arms open and looked up at Arima expectantly. “Give me a hug.”

He sighed, a bubble of affection welling in his chest. In his peripheral vision, he could see the other children lining up behind Hairu. Accepting his fate, he crouched down and took her small body into his arms, his chin bumping the top of her head. As he let go, Arima patted her head. “Be good. And nice.”

“I will!” She beamed at him, hiding her crossed fingers behind her back. Hairu skipped off to where Furuta was, snatched his shoes, and hurled one pair somewhere amongst the nearby flowers. Giggling madly, she ran into the building of the sunlit garden with the other shoe. Who knows where she’ll go.

Arima pretended not to see that and gave a hug to the next child in line. 

One of the other children, Jinrii Shao, sat beside him instead. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, merely enjoying nature. There was no point of being part of a massive line, which contained just about everyone in the facility. It was much better to relax and wait until everyone was finished rather than worry about who’d push her out of her spot or cut her.

Shao yawned and fell onto her back, spreading her arms and legs. Life was nice. Usually.

**83.**

Hide and Kaneki were innocently minding their own business on their ride for war. The fly cloud wasn’t particularly ideal. Brought too much attention to themselves. But Hide’s mother had grounded him and it was the only way he could escape. Hide also experienced chronic laziness and didn’t feel like walking across a couple wards just to reach juvie.

Kaneki, a grimace on his face, looked at his cards. “Do you...have a six?”

Hide shook his head. Kaneki grit his teeth and reached for yet another card. There were so many cards in his hand that he worried he had half the deck.

“Now, dear Kaneki.” Hide slowly lowered the card, revealing a grin that reeked of cockiness. “Do you have a, whatchamacallit…..”  The grin widened and he narrowed his eyes. “An ei-”

There was a faint call of “Fire!” from down below, nearly unnoticeable. Then the majestic fly cloud was ridden with bullets and promptly dispersed, but not before flinging its two passengers in the general direction of their destination.

 

**84.**

The eclipse disappeared, much to the joy of Tokyo’s citizens. The exhausted CCG footwo- bureau investigators were able to put away everything and go home for the rest of the day. The CCG was not cruel to the point where they would continue making people work even after they had completed a mission.

There were probably rules for that under “mistreatment of employees” and the last thing they needed was another lawsuit after the discovery that the Washuus funded the testing of cannabis plants on children.

 

**85.**

The hug line ended and Arima stood up, stretching. He had never realized that hugs could be so….strenuous. Or that it would leave him with a craving of sprite and fish chips. He slung his guitar case over his back and checked his wallet. 

1500 yen. Good enough.

With that, he began his journey to the convenience store. And Shao, who had noticed him leaving, trailed behind him. Curious of what a fighting prodigy did in his spare time beside read and look at flowers.

  
And no one noticed two objects crash onto the roof of the sunlit garden with a loud bang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> last sat (or about 7 hours ago) i watched finding dory with my bf and cried (and he NEARLY cried) . like jESUS CHRIST we were NOT prepared :'^)
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> and i just realized i hadnt turned on my ask for my writing blog when i wrote last chapters authors note begging for requests.... but uh, well its open now **B)**


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